BRCC’s Motor Sports Wrapped Up 2021 With Best in the Desert Win
For those unfamiliar with Black Rifle Coffee Company’s motor sports division, here’s your crash course on the off-road racing sector.
Black Rifle Coffee motor sports runs its own “trophy truck” raced by BJ Baldwin, who joined as the BRCC driver early in 2021. Baldwin is a seven-time off-road racing champion and the only person to ever “Ironman” (or never get out of the driver’s seat) during a desert race. In the case of the Baja 1000, a Southern California Off-Road Enthusiasts (SCORE) International race, that means more than 20 straight hours of driving. (Historically, the Baja 1000 and Best in the Desert races were both run by SCORE, but despite being run by separate entities now, they’re recognized as some of the top events for the biggest and best to compete in off-road racing in North America, according to the National Off-Road Racing Association.)
Photo courtesy of Lacey Whitehouse/Black Rifle Coffee Company.
“Black Rifle Coffee only raced Best in the Desert [races] this year,” Kurt Summers, BRCC content creator, said. “Baldwin finished every race this year in the whole series, which is hard to do; the races are a war of attrition as well as speed. More often than you want, the trucks will break, and it’ll put you out of the race. The guy that started the last race [in the series] was leading by 30 minutes, which is huge, and they broke down with 90 miles to go.”
The Best in the Desert Racing Association (BITD), which started purely as a motorcycle racing series 38 years ago, integrated four-wheeled vehicles into its races in 1996. By 2004, BITD was recognized worldwide as the premier off-road racing association. The 2022 schedule features eight races and offers competitive race classes for trucks, cars, motorcycles, utility-terrain vehicles, and quads/all-terrain vehicles.
Best in the Desert hosts five events for the trick truck class annually in its Great American Off-Road Race series. The most popular (and toughest) race is the Las Vegas to Reno one-day desert race — this 550-mile trip hosts competitors from Monster to Red Bull and Black Rifle Coffee. Within those 5 races, the Maxxis Triple Crown comprises three car and truck races and three motorcycle and SxS races, including the Maxxis Vegas to Reno, the longest off-road race in the US.
Baldwin and the BRCC team came in third place in the 2021 Triple Crown Standings in the hotly contested trick truck class. Trick truck racing is high-speed off-road racing with trucks designed for speed, endurance, and durability. The 2021 Great American Off-Road Race Series placed Baldwin in fourth place overall in the car/truck trick truck category, with a total of 445 points earned during the season.
Photo courtesy of Lacey Whitehouse/Black Rifle Coffee Company.
“This was BJ’s best season since 2013,” Summers said. “The truck he raced this year was severely underpowered compared to the competition, and with a new motor, he should be able to blow the competitors out of the water. Honestly, that just shows what kind of driver he is. He wasn’t even in his No. 1 truck, he was in the truck we typically use for content creation, and he finished second on the second day and third overall for the weekend.”
For reference, Baldwin won the 2012 and 2013 SCORE racing series back to back as the overall season point champion, and he “Ironman-ed” the Baja 1000 both years.
This season, Baldwin finished three straight race weekends with at least one podium win as well as two top-three placements and fourth overall in the series.
The 2022 season kicks off in Arizona in mid-January, and Black Rifle Coffee has upgraded the motor in its trophy truck, so Summers anticipates an exciting season.
“Once you experience a 700-pound truck doing 130 miles by you, nothing compares to that,” Summers said.
Photo courtesy of Lacey Whitehouse/Black Rifle Coffee Company.
The BRCC motor sports division is headed up by Jarred Taylor. It consists of our off-road racing partnership with BJ Baldwin and Kyle Craft and our joint partnership through the JR Motorsports team with Bass Pro Shops and TrueTimber on Noah Gragson’s NASCAR car.
